Seashell Collecting: Gateway to Armchair Adventures
If you collect rare seashells, you will find a reasonably priced selection on eBay. Whether you search for the iconic giant seashell conch as an individual piece or a collection of tiny coral shells mixed with midsize murexes, you will find that eBay shells satisfy your needs. Shells include polished cowries, volute shells sawn in half to show their intricate spirals, pebbly starfish exoskeletons, and barnacle-encrusted abalone shells.
Things to know about collecting rare seashellsShells on eBay are graded as follows:
- Gem means a perfect shell that has been taken live, cleaned, collected with an intact operculum if the species contains one, and notes as to when and where it came from.
- Fine means a live taken shell with only minor faults and whose color and glossiness must be satisfactory.
- Good means minor flaws, excellent color as long as it's not faded, and may include growth marks.
- Fair means a dead or beach-collected shell with noticeable flaws, no operculums if the species has any as well as no collecting data.
Collectible shells contain colors from the polymita, which resembles a typical snail in form but displays striking rainbow colors, to the large purplish lion's paw scallop shell, and majestic pink conch. If you want specimen seashells as a group to display many kinds, shapes, textures, and colors, then you may select an inexpensive collection containing iridescent abalone, earth-toned bursa, ivory clam, peach-colored conch, rough conus, reddish coral, brown cowrie, spotted pink cypraea, dotted mitra, spiky murex, classic nautilus, round sand dollar, flattened scallop, prickly sea urchin, sand-scraped starfish, flaring strombus, turban-shaped turbo, and sharp-as-a-needle voluta shells.
What forms of seashells can be purchased on eBay?You may purchase seashells by the pound, and many prefer the kind that waves and sand have softened to a matte finish, which are often found in these selections. If you decide on a unique shell for singular display, then you may wish a large pearl nautilus that has been smoothed by a craftsperson to reflect every bit of light. You may select a matrix containing multiple species of shells embedded in each other, which often occurs in clustered growth if you prefer a diorama of undersea life.
Are fossil seashells available?Yes. Fossils that have been polished present a modern look while unpolished fossil seashells offer a more raw display for you to delight in. Polished sand dollars, in particular, show a mellow yellow agatized form.